Five Times McCoy Had Too Much To Drink
by Red Bess Rackham
Summary: Sometimes McCoy drinks and sometimes he drinks too much - but there's always a good reason. This chronicles five times he had too much. Rated T for very minor swearing. Complete.
1. I

**Disclaimer:** I don't swear. McCoy does. I can't be held responsible for his mouth. And while I wish I owned Star Trek, I clearly don't. Lastly, I'm not exactly a serious Trekkie (more of a leisurely part-time Trekkie) so go easy on me if I miss something.

**A/n:** I saw the new movie and totally fell in love with it. I've been burning to write something for it for a while now, especially something about McCoy, and here's something finally. I'm rather daunted by the quality of the other Star Trek fics out there right now, so I hope this isn't too bad.

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**Five Times McCoy Had Too Much To Drink**

**I**

"So this is it." Leonard McCoy kept his eyes on the wood dining table - the expensive, maple table he'd bought several years ago for their anniversary. Oh, how far they'd come.

"Yeah." She picked at a loose thread in her dress and bit her lip.

He could hear the kids laughing outside and a dull ache began to form in his chest. "You just want me to leave her here, with you. Just like that."

She sighed in exasperation. "We've been over this, Len, a thousand times. You're never around!"

"She shouldn't have to suffer because you can't stand the sight of me when I _am_ around - "

She closed her eyes. "_Please_, Len. Don't start."

He managed to reign himself in with difficulty. She was right - they'd done enough yelling and screaming this week, there needn't be more.

"Just sign the papers." She whispered and looked at him with those gorgeous hazel-green eyes that he'd fallen in love with.

The ache in his chest intensified as he thought of Joanna, who wouldn't see her father anymore. His wife wasn't exactly forbidding him from seeing her ever again, but she wanted full custody and he'd have to speak to his wife - soon to be ex-wife, if he signed the dotted line - in advance if he wanted a visit. He didn't want to leave her like this. But there was no chance of reconciliation, and they'd gone over the argument too many times as it was. There was nothing left for him to say or do.

"Dammit, Marie." McCoy blinked fiercely against the moisture hurting his eyes.

She simply held out a pen.

Several hours later, he woke up in a dingy hotel room on the floor with a slamming headache, stinking of alcohol and a half-crumpled brochure for the medical sector of Starfleet in his hand.

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**A/n:** More soon! Thanks for reading, and reviews are like oxygen.


	2. II

**Disclaimer:** I don't swear. McCoy does. I can't be held responsible for his mouth. And while I wish I owned Star Trek, I clearly don't. Lastly, I'm not exactly a serious Trekkie (more of a leisurely part-time Trekkie) so go easy on me if I miss something.

**A/n: **Big thank-you to those of you who have reviewed already, I appreciate it immensely. This chapter is on the lighter side. Enjoy.**  
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**II**

McCoy was in the library once again, still studying hard for his upcoming exam. He was busily taking notes from an ancient paper-made textbook that weighed a solid twenty pounds when the quiet of the library was completely broken by several loud whoops and the thundering of someone running and jumping.

He groaned and kept his head down, recognizing the voice of the whoops immediately. He could ignore the other person no longer however when he reached McCoy, waving his arms, yelling and grinning wide.

"I did it! I passed!" James T. Kirk shouted happily.

"Keep it down, man, for God's sake!" McCoy snapped. "You're in a library."

The librarian was glaring his way as were many other students who'd been so rudely disturbed by Kirk's entrance. Kirk looked like he would much like to make more noise but for McCoy's sake, he quieted his tone significantly.

"I _passed_, Bones."

McCoy smirked. "Like you had any doubt you would."

"Well, it's not like I studied like you - or, at all for that matter." Kirk shrugged and slid into the seat next to McCoy. "I was with Gaila until four this morning."

McCoy raised his eyebrow, unsurprised.

"So with about two and half hours sleep and not an ounce of studying, I'd say I'm pretty proud of myself for pulling off a ninety-three."

"A _ninety - !_" McCoy swore under his breath and Kirk laughed.

"Let's blow outta here and celebrate making it through our first year, top of our class."

"I haven't made it through my first year." McCoy grumbled. "I still have my final exam, two days from now, which is why I am here, working hard."

"Right, two days. So we get plastered tonight and then you have a day to recover!" Kirk stood.

McCoy shook his head. "I'm not going. I have to make sure I do well."

"Bones, when have you ever done badly? And how often do you actually stop to have some fun?"

"You have more than enough 'fun' for the two of us, thanks." McCoy determinedly tried to continue his notes.

Kirk leaned forward. "I'm not taking 'no' for an answer. Not today. Today I am too happy to be on my way to greatness and I am forcing you to be too."

McCoy eyed him with irritation. "Dammit, Jim." He slammed his book shut.

Kirk whooped loudly again, earning himself a stern shushing from the librarian.

"Sorry ma'am, sorry." Kirk apologized swiftly with a charming grin and then patted his friend hard on the back. "You really deserve some fun, man."

McCoy couldn't help but smile a bit and silently admit that maybe he did deserve a little fun after all his hard work. Just over an hour later, he was in a local pub with dozens of other giddy and liquored-up students celebrating not only surviving his first year with Starfleet, but excelling.

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**A/n**: Thanks for reading! Reviews are like oxygen.


	3. III

**Disclaimer:** I don't swear. McCoy does. I can't be held responsible for his mouth. And while I wish I owned Star Trek, I clearly don't. Lastly, I'm not exactly a serious Trekkie (more of a leisurely part-time Trekkie) so go easy on me if I miss something.

**A/n: **I saw the movie a second time this weekend and loved it, if possible, even more than the first time. I swear, it was good it could make a mega-Trekkie out of anyone. Thank you to everyone who has been awesome enough to leave a review, and also thank you to all you lurkers who story-alerted or favorited me. :D Here's part 3 - enjoy.

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**III**

Kirk finally found him in a little known tucked away pub several miles from the academy.

"Bones, I've been everywhere. What're you doing here?" Kirk sat down beside his friend. "You were supposed to meet me almost two hours ago."

McCoy didn't answer and slowly brought the glass to his lips.

Kirk's eyebrows knit together. His friend was often dark or brooding, cynical or unsmiling, but this was different. "Bones, what's wrong?"

McCoy swallowed and his gaze went to his hand and the empty spot on his left ring finger. "Don't you know what day it is?" He slurred in a low voice.

Kirk shook his head as a sinking feeling began forming inside his chest.

McCoy grunted. "Once, a very long time ago, it was the happiest day of my life. Now it's the day where I try to drown myself in a glass and try to figure out what the hell went wrong."

Kirk studied his friend, noting how deep the sadness seemed to go. He thought that things were supposed to get easier the more time that passed, but it didn't seem to be the case for McCoy. This was yet another year where Kirk forgot about McCoy's anniversary and found him desperately drunk out of his mind. He should've remembered earlier.

McCoy buried his face in his hands. Kirk sat beside him for quite some time and pretended he couldn't tell that tears were leaking silently between McCoy's fingers. Finally, McCoy looked up at Kirk with red eyes and croaked,

"Dammit, why haven't you taken me home yet?"

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**A/n**: Thanks for reading! Reviews are like oxygen.


	4. IV

**Disclaimer:** I don't swear. McCoy does. I can't be held responsible for his mouth. And while I wish I owned Star Trek, I clearly don't. Lastly, I'm not exactly a serious Trekkie (more of a leisurely part-time Trekkie) so go easy on me if I miss something.

**A/n: **This one is very spoiler-ish for the movie, although I'm guessing you wouldn't be here if you hadn't seen it yet. Nevertheless, you've been warned. :D This one's sad and quite short, but the next one will be happier (and longer), I promise. Massive thanks to all who've reviewed so far - I love you. :D

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**IV**

They'd lost a planet. A _planet_. It was too huge to comprehend.

For the amount of people gathered in the mess hall, it was eerily quiet. Everyone was subdued and dealing with it in their own way. McCoy for one, was in the corner with a few drinks and several shots already in him.

The image of the planet disappearing before them continued to relentlessly play in his mind. He tried to convince himself there was nothing he could've done differently - _I'm a doctor, not a superhero_ - but he couldn't help it. Saving things, saving people was in his nature, completely ingrained in him. Loss of life was unacceptable.

A planet - _a whole planet_...

There weren't words for how he felt, how many of them felt, and the more drinks he drank the blurrier things became. He liked blurry - it made it hard to remember things. Yet the only thing that refused to blur was that damn planet, disintegrating into nothing, sucking up all the debris of the Starfleet ships that'd been attacked before them.

He pressed his palms to his eyelids and couldn't think of the reason why he'd signed up for this in the first place.

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**A/n**: Thanks for reading! Reviews are like oxygen.


	5. V

**Disclaimer:** I don't swear. McCoy does. I can't be held responsible for his mouth. And while I wish I owned Star Trek, I clearly don't. Lastly, I'm not exactly a serious Trekkie (more of a leisurely part-time Trekkie) so go easy on me if I miss something.

**A/n: **Thank you to everyone who has read and most especially to those of you _awesome_ people who stopped a moment to review!! To finish off, this one is just fun and light-hearted. Enjoy the fifth and final part, and if you have a sec, leave me a review. They are happiness, no matter what you say in it. :)**  
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**V**

They were celebrating their fiftieth successful mission. The ship had been docked and the crew were having the time of their lives in a local pub, drinking and eating and generally having a grand time.

Kirk, of course, had challenged whoever thought they could best him to a drinking contest. Somehow, and McCoy had yet to figure out how, they'd convinced Spock to join them. Generally McCoy was not one to join in these idiotic things - he usually watched with amusement then dragged a completely inebriated Kirk back to their room afterwards - but perhaps it was because Spock was joining in for the first time or because the excitement of their fiftieth successful mission had gotten to him, but he found himself in the contest too.

He'd long ago lost count of how many drinks he'd downed and was egged on by the gathered crowd. Three contestants were left: himself, Kirk and Spock.

"I have to admit," McCoy slurred. "I expected you out first." He jabbed his finger at Spock who so far seemed quite unaffected by the amount of alcohol he'd consumed.

"Apparently so did most everyone else." He replied with a twitch of his eyebrow.

The credits were being passed around as more bets were made and changed for who would last the longest.

Kirk wobbled where he stood and grinned. "You're just better at hiding it." He held onto the table for support when he swayed suddenly.

"Go lay down, Jim." said McCoy. "I've watched you do this enough times to know when you're done."

Kirk stubbornly shook his head. "I'm the best at this. I'm _always_ the best at this! There's no way you - either of you - are better than me."

McCoy smirked. "I've had more practice at drinking."

"Vulcan bodies absorb alcohol in much more efficient way than humans." said Spock. "I estimate it will take a significant more volume of liquid before I really feel its full effects."

Kirk grunted. "_Now_ you tell me."

The next round was set down and the crowd quieted with anticipation as the three remaining contestants picked up their shots. They clinked their glasses and proceeded to swallow their shots. Kirk knocked his back first, followed by Spock and McCoy.

Kirk lapped up the cheers that erupted in the mess hall until he tumbled off his stool. From the floor he groaned and mumbled that he wasn't able to continue, much to the chagrin of those who'd bet on him.

McCoy was determined to best his pointy-eared friend, but was starting to realize that it may not be possible after all. After several more rounds - McCoy didn't know how many - Spock still looked relatively unbothered. Spock seemed a little unsteady and seemed to be smiling more than usual, but that was hardly anything in comparison to McCoy who's world was swimming.

"Dammit, Spock." McCoy cursed and dropped to the floor beside Kirk.

**-end-**

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**A/n**: I originally was going to make Spock react like Legolas in Return of the King ("I feel a tingle... in my fingers...!"), but he told me that was illogical because he wasn't an elf. I conceeded the point and Spock told me that this was how it would happen instead - even though he knew I really don't know how a Vulcan would react after consuming excess amounts of alcohol. ;) Anyways, thanks for reading! Reviews really are like oxygen (and I like breathing).


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